Florida Gators

FLORIDA at AUBURN 

When: Tuesday, 7 p.m. (EST)
Where: Auburn Arena, Auburn, Ala.   
Records: Florida (11-6, 7-5); Auburn (11-12, 5-9)  
TV: ESPN (Karl Ravech and Jimmy Dykes) 
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (Mick Hubert and Lee Humphrey) 



THE BASICS 
 
Big road game for Florida, while Auburn has a chance to play spoiler as it runs out the program's first postseason-less campaign since 2017. ... The Gators sit alone in fourth place in the Southeastern Conference standings and, for now, are solidly in the NCAA Tournament field. Much can happen (good and bad) with three regular-season games and the league tournament ahead. UF certainly could further its cause with a road win against an Auburn team that currently rests in 11th place in the SEC standings and already has self-imposed a postseason ban on the program amid an NCAA investigation that dates to the infamous FBI shoe scandal of 2017. ... Florida is coming off Saturday's 70-63 home win over Georgia, a game it led by 15 inside four minutes to play, only to allow the Bulldogs to use an 11-2 run to twice get within six, and then to five with 27 seconds remaining before free throws iced the win. The victory snapped a two-game losing skid in which the Gators held late leads but collapsed offensively down the stretch. This time, the Gators survived. Auburn has lost five of six, most recently Saturday's 104-80 bludgeoning at LSU, a game the Tigers trailed for all but the first four minutes. ... Auburn leads the all-time series 89-80, but Florida has won 12 of the previous 14, including a 69-47 blowout victory Jan. 18, 2020 when the Tigers came to the O'Dome ranked fourth in the country. The Gators were led in that one by freshman forward Omar Payne, who had a virtually flawless performance in scoring a career-high 19  points on 9-for-9 shooting from the floor to go with 11 rebounds and a blocked shot. UF led by just five points at halftime, despite Auburn going just 6-for-29 from the floor and 1-for-10 from the 3-point line. The Tigers' cold snap continued in the second half (30.8 percent), while the Gators hit 55 percent for the period, with grad-transfer forward Kerry Blackshear Jr. tallying 11 points and 16 rebounds. ... UF is 4-2 against Auburn under Coach Mike White, including 1-1 on the road.  

Florida	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
Omar Payne	F	6-7	220	Sophomore	4.1 pts / 3.5 reb
Colin Castleton	F	6-11	231	Junior	13.3 pts / 5.8 reb
Tyree Appleby	G	6-5	189	R-Junior	10.8 pts / 3.1 reb
Noah Locke	G	6-3	203	Junior	11.0 pts / 2.6 reb
Tre Mann	G	6-5	190	Sophomore	14.1 pts / 5.3 reb / 3.6 ast

Auburn	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	Per Game
JT Thor	F	6-10	205	Freshman	9.4 pts / 4.7 reb
Jaylin Williams	F	6-8	230	Sophomore	10.4 pts / 5.0 reb
Devan Cambridge	G	6-6	215	Sophomore	8.6 pts / 3.6 reb
Allen Flanigan	G	6-6	215	Sophomore	14.2 pts / 5.2 reb
Sharife Cooper	G	6-1	180	Freshman	20.2 pts / 4.3 reb / 8.1 ast

ONE TO WATCH  
 

TEAM BREAKDOWNS  
 
ABOUT THE GATORS: They're 29th in the NCAA Evaluation Tool rankings, which is fifth-best among SEC teams and, again, has them solidly in the tournament field of 68. Repeat: for now. As far as KenPom.com metrics, UF ranks 32nd overall, 37th in offense, 35th in defense and 131st in pace of play. Florida is scoring 76.3 points per game and still ranks among the best in the league in field-goal percentage (second at 46.7) and 3-pointers (third at 35.5). Defensively, UF is allowing 70.8 points, 42.3 percent and 32.0 from deep. ... After going 20-for-25 from the free-throw line against Georgia, the Gators are up to 75.4 percent as a team, which is second in the SEC

behind only LSU (76.0). ... Forward Colin Castleton, after dipping from 64 percent on the season to making just 44 percent of his field goals during UF's two-game losing skid against South Carolina and Arkansas, bounced back against the Bulldogs by going 5-for-5 from the floor on the way to 14 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots. Castleton, though, had four turnovers, as Georgia followed the trend of recent opponents to "fire the post" with double teams. He needs to work on recognition and kicking the ball to the open man on the perimeter. ... Guard Tyree Appleby hit some clutch free throws late to help keep the Bulldogs at bay, but he could have helped by not turning the ball over five times. He has 12 the last two games, too many of them when trying to dribble through double teams or when pressured along the sideline. ... Neither Appleby nor Tre Mann, the two primary ball-handlers, have put up more than three assists in either of the previous two games. Combined, they have eight assists and 17 turnovers in those games. ... Shooting guard Noah Locke found a place in the UF history books Saturday by becoming just the ninth Gator to hit 200 3-pointers during his career. Locke hit three in the first half (to get to 201), but went 0-for-5 from deep in the second half. Every one of them was wide open, too. And any one of them just might have taken the late-game drama out of the equation. Locke is at 38.9 percent from the arc on the season, which leads the team, but that number drops to 36.0 in SEC play, which is fourth. ... The numbers for backup guard Scottie Lewis (8.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg) weren't very good against Georgia (4 points, 1-for-6 shooting, 4 turnovers), but the UF coaches thought it was the sophomore's best all-around game in some time. Don't be surprised if Lewis is back in the starting lineup for the first time in nearly a month. ... Forward Omar Payne had no points and one rebound in 18 minutes against Georgia, despite the Gators enjoying a significant size advantage in the front court. ... Forward Anthony Duruji's nine rebounds against the Dogs were his most as a Gator. ... Backup guard Ques Glover went 4-for-5 from the floor and scored a season-high 11 points last time out in what coaches deemed his best all-around performance of the year. Really good on both ends. ... The status of backup forward Osayi Osifo, who is 10-for-16 shooting in SEC play with 13 of his 23 rebounds on the offensive end, likely will be a game-time decision. Osifo did not play against Georgia due to a sore ankle. 

ABOUT THE TIGERS: Now in the seventh season under Bruce Pearl, their record stands at 131-80 overall and 52-54 in league play, with a pair of NCAA Tournament berths, a conference regular-season title (2018), a conference tournament title (2019), and a run to the program's first Final Four in 2019. Pearl's record is deceiving because it reflects the dire straits the program was in when he took control in 2014. A better gauge is his 92-35 mark over the last four seasons, including a 25-6 record in 2019 that would have made a third straight trip to the NCAA field. He is a terrific coach, but you can't talk about Pearl's success, though, without addressing the NCAA

investigation baggage that comes with it, a track record that goes to his firing at Tennessee for lying to NCAA investigators. The Tigers hope their proactive measures to bail on the 2021 tournament will suit the suits in the infractions office, but time will tell. It's worth noting, though (and those suits surely have taken note), the Tigers likely weren't going to the "Dance" this season anyway. ... Auburn sits at No. 63 overall, according to KenPom, as well as 34th in offense, 107th in defense and 34th in tempo. The Tigers average 78.9 points per game (4th in the SEC), but are middling shooters at 44.3 percent overall (9th in the league) and 33.3 from deep (8th). They give up 77.3 points, 44.0-percent shooting and 32.7 from the arc. ... After Cooper, Auburn's next-best guy is guard Allen Flanigan. He's the son of former Tigers standout Wes Flanigan, who was a 1996 first-team All-SEC guard) and scored more than 1,200 points during his career. The elder Flanigan is now an assistant on Pearl's staff, while the younger Flanigan is an efficient player on the offensive end at close to 47-percent shooting, including 35.1 from 3. He's also second on the team in assists (68), but first in turnovers (76). ... The team is holding out hope that freshman 6-6 guard Justin Powell (11.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg), who started seven of the first 10 games this season, can return from a concussion he suffered way back on Jan. 2. In non-league play, Powell had back-to-back games of 26 points against Memphis and South Alabama -- he hit seven 3s in the latter -- and was the team's top rebounder at the time of his injury. Powell's 3-point numbers were at 44.4 percent. If he suddenly shows up to space the floor, Cooper will become all the more dangerous (if that's even possible). The two rookies have yet to play a game together. ... Forward Jaylin Williams leads the team in shooting percentage at 51.9, but he'll also take his defender out to the 3-point line where he's made 29 of 78 attempts (37.2 percent). He gets fouled a lot, but only converts at 54.8 percent. ... Forward JT Thor is the Tigers' best rebounder, with 34 of his 107 boards on the offensive end. ... Backup guard Jamal Johnson has attempted a team-high 127 shots from distance and made a team-high 45. That.s 35.4 percent. And don't sleep on backup wing Devan Cambridge (8.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg), either. The 6-6 sophomore came off the bench last year to score 26 in a game (the most by an Auburn freshman in four years) and also hit seven 3s in a win over LSU last season. 


NUMBERS WORTH NOTING  
 

* .852 — Florida's winning percentage against Auburn during the 200s, based on a 23-4 record. 

* 1 — Where UF ranks nationally in blocked shots per game at 6.4.  

* 2— Where Auburn ranks nationally in blocked shots per game at 6.3. 

* 346 — Where Auburn ranks in experience, according to KenPom, making the Tigers (like the Gators last season) the youngest team in the SEC, as well as the youngest in high-major Division I. They're starting three sophomores and two freshmen, and possibly would be starting a third rookie if Powell was available. 

* 2017 — The last year Florida won a second consecutive game at Auburn. The Gators, in the midst of what became a nine-game winning streak, went on the road and destroyed the Tigers 114-95 on Valentine's Day behind 30 points from backup guard Canyon Barry. The victory was costly, however, as starting center John Egbunu was lost for the season with a torn ACL. Three years earlier, the Gators won in their first trip to new Auburn Arena by defeating the Tigers 68-61 on the way to their undefeated league season and the Final Four. 


LAST WORD

Forget Auburn's record. The matchup is not a particularly good one for the Gators, especially if they continue the recent trend of surrendering easy baskets in the halfcourt and turning the ball over. The Tigers, with Cooper, are a terror in transition offense, more so than the Bulldogs because they have better shooters.